From the Principal

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Catholic College

Deo Duce - With God as Leader

Coming Events

2 Cross Road

Cronulla NSW 2230

Phone: 8522 1500

De La Salle

Cronulla

Newsletter Term 4 - Week 9

13 December Last Day of Term 4 17 December HSC Results Afternoon Tea 1.45pm-3.15pm 2020 29 January Term 1 Commences 17 February Year 11 2020 Information Night 7.00pm-8.00pm

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Reflection

Last Sunday we celebrated the second Sunday of Advent, a time of preparation for the coming of the Christ child. The advent wreath and candles are displayed in churches throughout the world and a new candle is lit each week as we prepare for Jesus’ birth. Below is an extract from mercy home.org explaining the advent wreath. The first candle, which is purple, symbolizes hope. It is sometimes called the “Prophecy Candle” in remembrance of the prophets, especially Isaiah, who foretold the birth of Christ. It represents the expectation felt in anticipation of the coming Messiah.

The second candle, also purple, represents faith. It is called the “Bethlehem Candle” as a reminder of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem.

The third candle is pink and symbolizes joy. It is called the “Shepherd’s Candle,” and is pink because rose is a liturgical colour for joy. The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday and is meant to remind us of the joy that the world experienced at the birth of Jesus, as well as the joy that the faithful have reached the midpoint of Advent.

On the fourth week of Advent, we light the final purple candle to mark the final week of prayer and penance as we wait for the birth of our Saviour. This final candle, the “Angel’s Candle,” symbolizes peace. It reminds us of the message of the angels: “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.”

The white candle is placed in the middle of the wreath and lit on Christmas Eve. This candle is called the “Christ Candle” and represents the life of Christ. The colour white is for purity—because Christ is our sinless, pure Saviour.

Dear Parents/Caregivers, Over the past two weeks the College has welcomed our Year 11 2020 Cohort to the College to participate in the ‘Step-Up’ program, a joint initiative of the three Eastern Shire schools Our Lady of Mercy Catholic College, Burraneer, De La Salle Catholic College, Caringbah and De La Salle Catholic College, Cronulla. It was an opportunity for the students to gain an understanding of what life is like in a senior College, participate in lessons to further develop the skills required for Stage 6 education delivered by staff from all three schools and for students to get to know their peers. In the coming days and early next year we will evaluate the effectiveness of the program.

St John Baptist De La Salle … Live Jesus in your hearts...

Year 12 Formal 2020 Friday, 13 November

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There are some staff changes for next year. We farewell Mr Paul Wallis who will be leaving the College after eight years teaching Design and Technology, Business Services and Construction. As a community we thank him for the work he has done supporting students in that time. Mr Geoff Wright has resigned as Mathematics Coordinator and will job share with Mrs Helen Johnson in 2020. Mr Peter Moore has also resigned but will be with the College for Term 1 while Mrs Adla Coure is on maternity leave. Mr Jake Wedesweller, our Lasallian Youth Minister for the past three years is also leaving us to complete his university de-gree. He has been a tremendous role model and leader in faith formation within our College during that time and we thank him for the work he has done.

We welcome the following staff in 2020:

Mr Luke David – Mathematics Coordinator Mr Andrew Christoforidis – Design & Technology/Construction Teacher Mr Jonathon Abel – Religious Education/History Teacher Mrs Wendy McLennan – Librarian Technician/Clerical Support

As the year draws to a close I congratulate the students on the way they have conducted themselves throughout the year and the contribution they have made to the faith life of the College, in the academic, vocational, sporting and creative arts areas and through social justice and outreach opportunities. Your endeavours have made the College a better place. My sincere thanks to the staff who have given so much to ensure students have opportunities to succeed and develop. They have given so much time and effort to support students throughout the year. To the parents, thank you for your ongoing support of the College and for al-lowing us to be a small part of your child’s education. Finally, to Father Tom and Father James, thank you for your presence, sup-port and guidance throughout the year, it is greatly appreciated.

May you all have a blessed Christmas with family and friends and a relaxing and safe holiday. Attendance rates of High Performing Schools are in excess of 98% Miss a week: you miss 3.3% of the course

As we draw near to the end of the school year I would like to congratulate students and staff on their sustained enthusiasm and focus as we complete the first term of Year 12 HSC work and assessments. This is a wonderful school provid-ing all students with opportunities to shine in terms of both academic effort and achievement. Most importantly, the College is a community where the Catholic ethos is deeply embedded through the Lasallian traditions, part of which is for each of us to be encouraged to care for one another and where we are challenged to follow Jesus’ example in serving the needs of those less fortunate. This has been abundantly evident recently with the groundswell of participation by all Pastoral classes in raising money for the St Vincent De Paul Christmas appeal to support our local families in need, in a joyous and generous manner. Tomorrow, Friday 13 December we will celebrate our final ‘Thanksgiving’ Mass together as a Catholic community where we will also acknowledge the academic success of our students who have all completed their Year 11 Studies. This is a compulsory College event where full school summer uniform is worn. Students will assemble for roll call at Monro Park by 9:00am and Mass will begin at St Aloysius, Cronulla at 9:30am.

From the Principal (Cont.)

% Attendance Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Year Count Term 4

Year 11 95.67% 92.86 % 94.06% 240 94.25%

Year 12 95.13% 93.15% 94.6% 208

School 95.4% 93.00% 94.33% 94.25%

Craig Mooney Principal

From the Assistant Principal

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Congratulations once more to all our Year 12 Graduates and I wish you every success in your future endeavours. Remember that you are invited to attend a HSC afternoon tea at 1:45pm on Tuesday, 17 December to share and celebrate your success with your peers and College staff. To Year 12 2020, you have made a committed and focused start to your HSC studies, so enjoy a well-earned break and be prepared to take up the challenge of achieving your personal best when we meet back here again on Wednesday 29 January at 9:55am in Carmody Hall. Pastoral meetings will follow this assembly and following recess students will start their Day 3 timetable for Periods 3, 4 & 5 classes and will be dismissed at 3:00pm. To our new Year 11 students 2020 who participated enthusiastically in our Step Up Program, we look forward to you forming a significant membership in our Lasallian Community. All students proudly represented their school and family by their courteous, enthusiastic and respectful manner. We look forward to meeting you again on Wednesday, 29 January at 8:45am in Carmody Hall. Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to wish students and their families a Happy and Holy Christmas season and look forward to working with you all in the New Year.

Encounter Day On Monday, 18 November, more than 100 students from Lasallian schools across Sydney, gathered at our College to take part in Encounter Day. Encounter Day is aimed at Lasallian school leaders from Years 9 to 11 which offers them a chance to come together and meet other student leaders in the Lasallian community. The gathering provided them with the opportunity to build relationships with other Lasallian leaders and learn how to develop their leadership qualities. As the theme for the day was "Encounter", the day consisted of many Lasallian speakers sharing their personal experiences in the journey of life. The idea being that everyone has their own story and reflection is critical to understand the power of your own.

Michelle Morrison Assistant Principal

From the Religious Education Team

From the Assistant Principal (Cont.)

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Movember Awareness Day On Thursday, 14 November, the Lasallian Youth Leaders decided to do their bit for Movember and Men’s Mental Health. The LYL’s have been selling Zooper Doopers with the initiative of buying in multiples for your mates. Here at De La Salle Cronulla, we want to promote the idea of De La Salle being a safe space for all and being a place for students to have those difficult conversations with each other.

ACYF The following students have accompanied Mrs Maldigri to Perth for ACYF:

Amy Munns Carly Spedding Lara Keir

The students departed for Perth on Saturday and will spend 4 nights and 5 days there, beginning each day at 8.30am at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, concluding at 8.30pm. The Festival exists to provide young people with opportunities to deepen their relationship with Jesus, be empowered to be disciples in the world today and encounter and celebrate the vitality of the Church in Australia. The theme of the festival is ‘Listen to what the Spirit is Saying’ Rev 2:7. As a College community we look forward to the students returning and sharing their experiences. The College social justice focus this term has been the St Vincent De Paul Christmas Appeal. This is a time of community, when pastoral groups team up to provide ways of building spirit and raising funds for St Vincent De Paul. We traditionally provide movie

vouchers and Coles/Myer vouchers which are distributed to families in need for Christmas. To date there has been the student soccer tournament, which culminated in the Yellow team winning and playing the staff team. Congratulations to the Yellow team who beat the staff in a penalty shoot out! We have sold Krispy Kreme donuts, gelato, Santa photos and much more. There was also a raffle for Sea Level vouchers. I would also like to thank Sea Level Restaurant & Bar, Cronulla for their generosity in donating to this worthy cause. Many Lasallian Youth Leaders, Year 12 Leaders and Year 12 students have all contributed to make a difference in our College and our broader community. We are very fortunate to have young people who take up opportunities offered. I would also like to thank Jake Wedesweiler and Monique Bova, our Lasallian Youth Ministers for their work and efforts with our students.

HSC Term 4

Congratulations to all students on your completion of the first term of your HSC year. The final few weeks of this term have been typically filled with the first HSC assessment task for the majority of courses. These tasks may carry a weight of anywhere from 15-25% of the courses internal assessment. It is essential that students are now receptive to the teacher feedback that accompanies each of the completed assessment tasks as a means of continuous improvement.

Students will also be provided with course work over the break. It is vital that this work is completed as it is a great opportunity to consolidate learning from Term 4 and be fully up to date for the start of the year. It may also be the last opportunity to address these topics in any detail before the Trial HSC exams in August next year.

A gentle reminder in planning for next year …. All students have been emailed the 2020 HSC College Assessment Handbook and Calendar. A copy of each of these documents is also located on the College website. The 2020 College Assessment Schedule has also been emailed and can be found on the College website.

Best Wishes for the Festive Season! Finally, may I take the opportunity to wish all parents and students of our LaSallian community a very peaceful, Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

From the RE Team (Cont.)

Therese Hughes & Maree Cullen

From the Curriculum Coordinator

Tony Ginestra Curriculum Coordinator

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St Vincent De Paul Christmas Appeal We wish to thank everyone who was involved in raising money and donating gifts for our annual St Vincent De Paul Christmas Appeal. Over the past three weeks, students have participated in activities that included a bake sale, Krispy Kreme donuts, Santa Photos, raffles, Christmas gifting tree and indoor soccer competition. House colour points have been given to teams based on their participation, energy and commitment as roll call groups to the activities that have taken place. Indoor Soccer Competition As part of our fundraising initiatives, the year group participated in a house colour soccer competition. The student finals were held at recess on Friday, 6 December with the Red and Yellow team giving us a very dynamic and exciting game. Both teams displayed excellent sportsmanship and skill but the Yellow team was just too good in the end and won the game. The Yellow team went on to compete and beat the teachers’ team at lunchtime with the winner being decided via a penalty shootout. Congratulations to everyone it was a great way to finish the week.

Attendance, Uniform and Wellbeing As we come to the end of Term 4 it is an important time to remind families of the College expectations around attendance and uniform. Good attendance means being at school at least 95% of the time and gives students the best chance of success. A number of students have had notes given to them about their uniforms and have made adjustments this term. It is important that students take responsibility for their uniform at the start of next year and make sure that they are organised and prepared for the HSC year. As young adults, being punctual, responsible and taking pride in your appearance is important for future career paths and employment. It is one part of helping to keep us motivated and feeds into positive wellbeing.

Danielle Fuller Year 11 Coordinator

From the Year 11 Coordinator

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